OT: Which series do DS fans find more appealing?

[retzev]

...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

The poll is now working. 

[retzev]

85 views and only 16 votes?



Lame.

[MagnusTrask]

I want the Addams Family to turn out to have been reality all along, while all this is the TV show.

[retzev]

Yes! 3 more votes!

I was beginning to fear that DS fans were unconcerned with these important issues -

[Gerard]

For me, it was The Munsters.  What I enjoyed so much about the show was that it blended the "normal" with the "bizarre" so well.  On The Addams Family, the characters were always bizarre and did bizarre things, but The Munsters would combine both, creating hysterical stories and riotious dialogue and one-liners.  Apparently, the producers wanted the characters and situations to mirror The Addams Family in total oddballness, but it was Yvonne DeCarlo who took it on a different course because of her audition.  She and other actresses up for the part were told to improvise a scene, in full vampirella costume, during which they carved a turkey.  Miss DeCarlo watched as those preceding her whacked and chopped wildly and insanely at the cooked bird; she decided to do another approach.  What if she, in her long, flowing just-crawled-out-of-the-coffin gown and wild makeup, carved the turkey the way "Donna Reed would do it?"  So she did, and the "polarized" audition scene not only landed her the part, but had the producers change course.  Instead of being this "monstrous" family living an isolated life from the community, it would be part of the community, doing everyday mundane things while not being your everyday mundane family.

Gerard

[retzev]

Apparently, the producers wanted the characters and situations to mirror The Addams Family in total oddballness, but it was Yvonne DeCarlo who took it on a different course because of her audition...

Hey, great stuff man - sounds like you're a pretty avid fan!

How were the producers aware of the Addams? Was it the comics or were they already on the air when The Munsters were developed? I heard they both ran during the same two seasons -

[MagnusTrask]

Thanks a lot, Gerard, for that!

The Addams cartoons in the New Yorker were well-known.   Carolyn Jones didn't want to do television, but agreed to this because of that connection. 

There seemed to be a point under the surface with AF.    I was never on the side of the grunts and yahoos and unimaginative yokels who would enter the house, look amazed at each other, and swear off drinking.    They represented what was wrong with the world, to me, getting thrown by, and knocking down whatever was unlike them.  The Addamses were the cool ones.

One and only one (I think) AF episode had an overt serious moment-- it was when a beatnik-y biker was laid up in the house for awhile, and felt at home whereas he didn't in the 'outside world'; his hostile parents were reconciled with him and supposedly came to accept him because of the AF.     Well done, up till the point at the very end, where one of those Thing-agrams announced that the guy had put on a suit and joined the family business.  So it was the kid who caved.    Tacked-on through ntwk. interference? 

With The Munsters, you can just relax and get goofy, though I felt as if I shouldn't be watching after reaching a certain age.   Later though I started noticing elements to it that made it work really well, without calling attention to themselves, and I let myself appreciate it again as an adult.   Great old-time burlesque chemistry between Al Lewis and F Gwynne.

[retzev]

The Addams cartoons in the New Yorker were well-known.

Yeah, I guess I should rephrase my question:

Gerard, when you say "the producers wanted the characters and situations to mirror The Addams Family in total oddballness" did they have the cartoons in mind or the TV show?

[Miss_Winthrop]

My very first exposure to the Addams Family was through a book of drawings by the author (was it Charles Addams from the New Yorker?).  My Mom worked in Chicago and was always bringing home interesting books from a book store called Kroch's & Brentannos which is no longer around.  She brought home a ton of Edward Gorey stuff which I still have.   I recall a cartoon from the Addams Family where you see a drawing of a closet full of clothes.  The clothes are neating hung in the closet in garment bags.  They all have name tags such as Richard's Golf Outfit, Richard's Summer Suit, Richard's Formal Tux, etc. and lastly just 'Richard'.  Unfortunately I don't have the book anymore.  I recall an 'Avenger's' episode where the victims of murder were all freshly laundered and placed in garment bags. I love both shows the Munster's and The Addams Family and can't pick a clear winner although I lean a little towards The Addams Family mainly because of John Astin.

[retzev]

My very first exposure to the Addams Family was through a book of drawings by the author (was it Charles Addams from the New Yorker?).

I wouldn't bet my life on it, but I'd venture a "Yep" -

[arashi]

I recall a cartoon from the Addams Family where you see a drawing of a closet full of clothes.  The clothes are neating hung in the closet in garment bags.  They all have name tags such as Richard's Golf Outfit, Richard's Summer Suit, Richard's Formal Tux, etc. and lastly just 'Richard'.

They used that as a joke in the first movie, except replace Richard with Uncle Knick-knack. I had heard the Addams Family was based off a cartoon series, does anyone know if the comics are still in print?

[Gothick]

It's got to be Addams Family, all the way...

The show was based on the cartoons by Charles Addams published in the New Yorker and collected in various books over the years.  If you run a search on your favorite used book site, I'm sure you can find them fairly cheaply.

There is also a book that was published in, I think, the early or mid 90s about the show, its development history, etc.

I keep eyeing the new DVD set for the first season of Addams.  Hope the firm proceeds with plans to issue season 2 as well!

G.

[retzev]

I keep eyeing the new DVD set for the first season of Addams.  Hope the firm proceeds with plans to issue season 2 as well!

Two sets are out so far. The first set has like 21 or 22 episodes from season 1, the second set finishes up season 1 and starts into season 2, and a third set will finish up the remaining episodes of season 2.

[Gerard]

The producers of The Munsters figured that The Addams Family would be over the top and so originally determined that their show should be likewise.  But, as said before, it was Yvonne DeCarlo who caused it to change course.  (And, ironically, the TV show did not mirror the comic series Addams Family as presented in print; the movies were far more correct in that aspect.)

And I also loved many of the one-liners from The Munsters, especially between Herman and Grandpa, but from the other characters as well, which exemplified how it "crossed" between the "normal" and the "bizarre."

(Paraphrasing here.)

Grandpa:  Two drivers arrive at an intersection at the same time.  Who goes first?
Herman:  The one with the bigger car?
Grandpa.  No, no, no.  That's only in California.

Lilly:  Grandpa, don't you dare change yourself into a wolf again.  That last time you did that you ended up in Kansas City with that police dog.

Herman:  (Lilly and Herman think that it is time for Eddie to have "the talk" - something the censors had a bit of difficulty with.)  Lilly, you do it!  I remember when I found out that the whole thing about the bees was more than just making honey, I fainted.
Lilly:  No, Herman, it's the father's responsibility.  Someone like you who faithfully watches "My Three Sons" knows that.
Herman:  All right, I'll do it.  But Donna Reed handles these kinds of things on her show, you know.

Gerard